1. Field of the Invention
This invention patent relates to packaging. More particularly, this invention relates to a packaging assembly for holding vertically arranged seedling trays in a fixed spatial relationship to prevent damage to the seedlings.
2. Description of the Related Art
The nursery/flower industry ships a variety of seedlings via small parcel carriers or tray holder boxes. The seedlings are carried in injection molded or thermoformed trays, each tray comprising multiple cells, with each cell typically containing one seedling. The trays are arranged vertically inside the tray holder boxes with up to seven or more trays per box.
In order to avoid damage to the seedlings the trays must be spaced apart vertically and remain that way during shipping and handling. Currently this spacing is accomplished by inserting each tray into a corrugated fold up device that provides headspace above each tray. A problem with this current packaging system is that the corrugated fold up device can collapse during shipping, causing the trays to collapse on each other and damage the seedlings.
Thus there is a need for a packaging assembly for holding vertically arranged trays in a fixed spatial relationship to each other that resists collapsing.
Further and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims.